Tag: graduation

Graduation

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Definition

This whole time we have been talking about leading up to graduation and how to get ready for it. But never have we put a definition onto the term. I thought this post could be some meanings and synonyms of the word graduation. 

Definitions: 

“the receiving or conferring of an academic degree or diploma.” 

“the action of dividing into degrees or other proportionate divisions on a graduated scale.” 

“Graduation is the award of a diploma or academic degree, or the ceremony that is sometimes associated with it, in which students become graduates. The date of graduation is often called graduation day. The graduation ceremony itself is also sometimes called: commencement, convocation or invocation.” 

“the formal event at which a person who has successfully completed a course of study at a school, college, or university gets a document stating this fact, or the successful completion of a course of study:” 

“the fact of finishing a degree or other course of study at a university or school, or the ceremony at which you are officially said to have finished:” 

“Graduation is the successful completion of a course of study at a university, college, or school, for which you receive a degree or diploma.” 

Synonyms: 

commencement. admission. alpha. birth. bow. celebration. convocation. countdown. curtain-raiser. 

https://www.synonyms.com/synonym/graduation

Memories last a life time

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Graduation is very stressful because all these days and years we are going through school, we are leading up to one day in our life. Have you ever thought about that? We are all going through so much time and stress to each graduation. It took me a while to realize this, but we won’t be able to get college back. Never again will we be this young and not have to worry about big payments until after we get a real big job.  

I am here to remind you that we need to cherish all of the memories. There are so many stressful times, but we also need to remember they don’t have to be. Going out with your friends is something that you will remember for a lifetime. Hanging out with your roomies, or even going to a football game. You need to take the time to have some fun for yourself. 

I struggled with this for a while last year at Whitewater. Since I transferred, I didn’t know anyone. It was very hard to get out of my comfort zone to talk to people. This year I am a different person. Since its senior year it’s time to make some friends and enjoy myself. Most likely I won’t ever be around so many people again that I am able to connect with.  

Take advantage of being in college to do fun things with people. College only happens once in your life and you will regret it if you don’t spend time on yourself. Not saying that you shouldn’t do homework or study, but to learn how to have a balance with friends and family. 

Associate’s vs Bachelor’s Degree

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The purpose of this blog post is to talk about my personal experience of how to get ready for an Associates degree compared to a Bachelor’s degree.  

Associate’s:

Getting an Associate’s degree is easy because there is a whole outline of classes you need to take. You don’t have to decide because it’s already chosen for you. It wasn’t stressful because I didn’t have to worry about what I wanted to do. All I had to do was make sure I didn’t fail the class. When it was time to graduate there was only about 60 people. Not a lot of people get an Associate’s degree because it’s not very helpful when getting a good paying job. Once I graduated with my degree, I felt accomplished because I knew I was 2 years done and I only had 2 more to go to get my Bachelors. 

Bachelor’s:

When you choose a major and minor there is a certain amount of credits that they contain. To be able to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree you have to have a total of 120 credits at UW -Whitewater. Once you get into your senior year you really start to stress and struggle with your classes. It’s much more of anxiety one knowing you must pass these classes in a certain amount of time to graduate. Mostly it takes people on average for years to graduate with a bachelor’s degree. I would say a Bachelor’s degree is different because there is a lot more pressure. When getting a Bachelor’s degree you can choose if you want to settle down or go for your Master’s degree. 

Motivation

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Why should we have it in college?

I’m not always motivated all the time but I try hard to be! Motivation to me is everything because it’s what helps me get things done. What gets me motivated is thinking about the big outcome in the future of what is going to benefit me. For example: My biggest motivation I have right now is graduation, and that is what I’m working up to.  

Where are some reasons why I see being motivated is good for you; 

1.High quality work

Having good grades is what allows us to graduate. We need a certain GPA to pass successfully. Students can’t fail classes and still be allowed to graduate. If you want to get a good grade you are going to put in a lot of time and work into it to do good.  

2.You get along with people better. 

By being motivated I’m more social with people. I think it’s because I’m trying my best to get my work done correctly. So, either asking someone for help, or studying with someone is a good way to be social. You also get to know your professors better by doing one on one with them if you need help.  

3.Less stress 

By being on top of your work to get things done, most likely you are ahead of your work. By getting work done ahead of time, it gives you more time to do other things. The process of staying ahead is very helpful since you don’t have to worry about deadlines at the last minute.  

CommConnect

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Today is my Communication Department’s group advising event which is held every semester. The purpose of this is for everybody to be on the right track to graduate. As I talked about before, scheduling can be very tricky as to why this is held to help us. I am very excited to go because this is my last one since I graduate in the spring!  

What to bring :  

-Academic Advising Report (AAR) 

This what tells us everything we have completed and still need up to our 120 credits to graduate. It’s an easy way to keep track of all of our classes. 

-Advising Worksheet 

This needs to be completed by us before we go. The sheet is what we need to take for next semester. It gives us a lay out of what’s need with the course number, course name, credit amount, and day/time it’s on.  Having this sheet is super helpful when it’s time to register for classes.  

If we don’t bring the AAR and advising worksheet to the event, we won’t be ahold in.  

Reason to go: 

IT’S A MUST. There will be a hold on our account If we don’t go which means we can’t register for classes. 

-To know what’s going on 

It’s so helpful to understand what’s going on with our schedule so we know how to graduate on time.  

It’s going to be held in the Hamilton room Nov 4 and 5th.  The event has been “revamped” for this fall and is now called CommConnect.   

12:30-5:30 pm on Nov 4th and from 2:00-5:00 pm on Nov 5th. 

UPDATE: Applying for graduation

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I’m accepted!

I am approved to graduate in May 2020 with my Bachelors degree! I made a blog post few weeks ago explaining how I was applying for graduation, and I told you guys I would update you when I got my results. 

I got the letter in the mail from UW-Whitewater which is stamped mailed from Madison, Wisconsin. It started off saying that I applied to graduate next year. I am going to be cleared for graduation after this semester of classes. They will check my grades to make sure I’m on the right track and won’t be behind in credits.  

The letter listed the requirements of classes that I still need to take to complete my AAR. The AAR stands for Academic Advising Report which shows every college course you have taken since you started college. It shows you your grade, credit amount, and if you have completed certain requirements for major and minor. I have 3 classes left to take for next semester which is 12 credits. They all must be taken for my major advertising.  

The end of the letter listed lots of resources of who I could talk to if I’m having problems with my schedule or if something has changed to switch my graduation date.  

Overall, this took about a month to get my letter in the mail for this process. I haven’t received an email so I’m not sure if I will. My goal now is to just make sure I can pass my classes and do the best I can to graduate on time. 

Focus on yourself

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Through experience I have realized that I’m an emotional and invested girl that takes a lot of things to heart. If something is going on, I get distracted easily, because it impacts me too deeply. To a point that’s not good because it affects me as a person. Once it affects me, it will effect my schoolwork because I can’t focus. For the past month I’ve been going through something which has affected my grades. At one point we will have this happen to us, but we need to overcome it. As a college student we only get so much leeway with our professors.  

The point I’m getting at even though things get hard at times we need to try to focus on our grades because that is going to be the outcome to our future. It’s not always easy to be able to make up for a bad exam grade depending on how much everything in the class is weighted. Most likely the situation we are going through now, isn’t going to matter much in a couple months from now.  

Since I’m graduating this year, I need to do my very best to make sure I pass all my classes with good grades. My goal at this moment is to try to not have things impact me as much as they have in the past. I encourage you to focus on yourself! It’s the best for all of us, because we need to care about what’s going on with us personally. It’s able to boost confidence and increase happiness in all areas in life!

Class Sign Up

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Signing up for classes on time is a big part of being successful to graduate on time! I came up with a list of reasons of why it’s important for you guys.

Reasons to sign up for classes on time:

Better class selection. 

The sooner you register for classes, it gives you more courses to pick from. Average credit course amount is from 12-16 credits, which are 4-6 classes per semester. It’s nice to be able to pick what classes you would like to take rather than having no choice to have a class you don’t like. The student population at a college compared to the number of classes or professors is a big difference. So make sure to register on time! 

No course registrations = No class. 

If you don’t sign up, there’s no classes for you to take. The process is stressful because we need to figure out if we are picking the correct classes for our major.  It should be discussed with multiple advisors so make sure you are on the right track. 

You’ll have time to handle roadblocks. 

By getting ahead of the game for classes it gives you time to figure out any obstacles. Last year I waited a couple hours after class registration to sign up for classes which was a bad idea. Two of the classes I wanted to take were full. Thankfully since it was the first day, I was able to switch them to other classes that I needed, but that’s not always the case. If someone would wait their classes could all be full, having to throw your semester off which could possibly increase a semester for you on campus.  

Lastly, It’s over with.

If you sign up right away, you don’t have to worry about it. Leading up to signing up for classes is so scary since you don’t know if you will get in or not. After having your classes picked that is so much stress that you don’t have to stress out about anymore. 

Hopefully this post gives you motivation to start planning your schedule for next semester. October is already here!!

Keep track of your credits

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To be able to graduate with a bachelors degree at UW-Whitewater, you have to have 120 credits. Now just because you have 120 you might not to be able to because of the type of classes you took. There are certain requirements in the minor and major of how many credits you need. Even some credits need to be worth a 300 or 400 level class. There are lots of things that can lead up to you not having the correct credits, or being misguided because you read your report wrong.

I suggest to you that you go meet with two or maybe three advisors a semester. By meeting with different people, it gives you the clarification if you are on the right track or not. If they are all saying you are in the same amount that’s great. If they have different opinion, then that is a problem. I personally had a problem where I was getting told different results by four different advisors last year. Nobody knew where I was in terms of credits, which was very stressful. It was a big downfall for me because I could’ve graduated already if I got the correct information from someone.

Lastly, I would make sure you personally know how to read your credit report correctly. If you can figure it out, then you will be in good shape to know where you stand. I personally was confused and didn’t have the proper help. You must read it carefully and multiple times to make sure everything is correct. It will be a big help and less stress in the long run if you are able to understand your credit standing.  

That’s all for now! Be back Thursday!

5 Tips That Help You To Graduate!

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just a few, there’s plenty more!!!

The main goal of going to college is to graduate! Being able to graduate is one of the biggest accomplishments you can receive. But, you can’t graduate by doing nothing. Over the years, you get into your own routine of what helps you out the most to succeed.

Here are some useful tips that are helping me lead to graduation:

1. Find a study buddy in every class
This has helped me tremendously. There are times when I’m confused on a topic, so I can text my classmate and ask a quick question. Or if i miss a class period they fill me in, and you do the same for them.

2.Go to office hours The more you keep in touch with your professor shows them that you are willing to get a good grade in the class. They are there to help you for a reason!

3. Figure out your time management
After the few weeks of class you start to figure out the routine of each professor. Make sure to get a daily planner to keep track of all assignments. This will help you stay ahead.

4. Keep in touch with family and friends at home
There are sometimes when I’m just not having a good day. We all have those sometimes. A call from home makes me feel so much better. It reminds me that life doesn’t need to be stressful and to not feel alone. We are all loved and have someone supporting us to graduate!

5. Don’t be afraid to have fun
College can be very stressful. We are all juggling multiple classes and homework assignments at the same time. Take a break, or go for a walk! Hit up a friend from class and go to dinner with them. Go watch a movie on campus! We all need time to relax our brain. As long as you make sure your homework will get done, and you’re prepared for the exam, go have fun!